Devil's Advocates

'A drowning man will clutch at a straw'. At this junction, we desperately need to know what is going on around us. Yes, we fail to understand what is going on in Turkey, what happened to MH370, why US, Russian officials behave so haphazardly etc.

In Crimea, 245,000 are Tatars, or 10.2% of the total population. Around the 5th century AD, the forefathers of the present Tatars were nomadic tribes living in northeastern Mongolia. Unlike the Mongols, Tatars spoke the same language spoken in Turkey. It was the Ottoman Empire, present-day Turkey, that occupied Crimea. The Crimean Tatars were, definitely, staunch Muslims who followed the infamous Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan, 1200 A.D., who killed hundreds of thousands of unarmed people of half of the world and leveled homes to the ground, acting exactly like the pioneer Arabs of 600 A.D., a role model for al-Qaeda.

In present Bulgaria, there is a skull tower open to tourists. In 1876 AD, 3,000 to 5,000 Bulgarians were massacred in Batak, by Ottoman Ahmet Aga. A witness, daughter-in-law, described how Trendafil Toshev Kerelov, the Bulgarian leader, was murdered, according to Wikipedia, after surrendering: "(They)…undressed mayor Trendafil Toshev Kerelov, gouged his eyes and teeth and impaled him slowly on the spike, until it went out of his mouth. Then they burnt him, still alive. He lived for half-an-hour during this terrible scene."

In 11th century, the Seljuks, who had enthusiastically converted to Islam around 985, began penetrating into present Turkey. These people found Islam in line with their tribal mentality. They gradually formed a formidable force that lasted from 1299 to 1453, called Ottoman Empire.

Nowadays, when we see European topless tourists sunbathing in Mediterranean beaches of Turkey or walking in bikinis in market places with beer cans in hands and drinking, in public, during the month of Ramadan, holy to Muslims, juxtaposed with the body language as well as distinct anger and wordings of the contemporary Prime Minister of Turkey, we are reminded of the atrocities of Sultans of Ottoman Empire who created havoc in Europe. We have seen, in neighboring countries, how easily, just in 48 hours, this volatile peace and quiet can be disrupted by a few Islamist gunmen, sending Russian comrade bathers packing.

Alcohol is unequivocally banned for ever in Islam. Muslim women have to cover their head and neck fully, like the wife of the Prime Minister of Turkey. Additionally, they have to wear loose garments to cover all their ins and outs of their body, emphatically unlike Prime Minster's wife, until doomsday.

Of course, we have no problem understanding the concerns of Prime Minster of Turkey over the banning of Twitter and You-Tube.

Furthermore, we find the same confusion with John Kerry, 71, US Secretary of State and Sergey Lavrov, 64, Russian Foreign Minister. The flag code of USA reads: 'the flag should be placed to the right of the speaker'. But John Kerry does the opposite: stands next to Russian flag and Russian Foreign Minister, next to USA's flag! Surprisingly, we don't understand why President Obama persistently runs up or down the plane escalator while the flap of his double vent flip-flops like a wagging bird's tail, unbecoming of a head of state. We get uneasy when we see a 71-year old Kerry tries awkwardly to mimic his boss and lumber sideways due to old-age and knee complications.